In December, the President signed into law the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, which includes provisions that will give states additional options for extending Medicaid coverage to working disabled individuals. This memo presents an overview of the eligibility options offered under the new legislation (Publication…

In June, 1999, the Supreme Court rule in Olmstead v L.C. that states were required to provide services to persons with disabilities in community settings rather than institutions, if certain conditions were met. This Policy Brief provides an overview of the Olmstead case, including the facts, the court ruling, and…

The American Bar Association Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly explored the views of Medicare HMOs on enrolling and delivering services to Medicare beneficiaries with dementia. The Commission conducted detailed interviews with professionals at eight diverse Medicare+Choice organizations. Their report provides background information on health care decision-making law and…

The March/April 2000 edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health, Health News Index includes questions about major health stories covered in the news, including questions about the Supreme Court’s ruling on the the Food and Drug Administration’s authority to regulate the marketing of tobacco products. The survey…

This report updates a 1997 Foundation report to assess how states are implementing financial protections for the 16 million Medicare beneficiaries who are low-income. These protections, generally referred to as “buy-in programs,” help low-income Medicare beneficiaries meet Medicare's cost-sharing requirements by using state Medicaid programs to pay either all or…

Long-Term Care: Medicaid's Role and ChallengesThis Policy Brief examines Medicaid's role in providing long-term care services. It describes long-term care services, the population that needs these services, and how people get long-term care services. It provides an overview of health insurance coverage of persons with long-term care needs and describes…

Results from the 1999 Survey of Experiences with Medicare HMOsThis report examines the effects of Medicare HMO withdrawals on elderly and disabled beneficiaries who were involuntarily disenrolled from their HMO at the end of 1998. Based on a nationally-representative survey, the report describes new insurance arrangements made by beneficiaries after…

The report, based on an analysis of Hewitt Associates' client database, presents new trend data on the prevalence of retiree health coverage sponsored by large employers and finds a continued erosion of retiree health benefits. The report also includes findings from a new survey assessing how large employers might change…

Americans at the end of their working lives are increasingly facing greater uncertainty regarding health insurance and hence access to health care. This paper describes a proposal that would allow older persons not yet eligible for Medicare (under age 65) to “buy into” Medicare coverage. This paper is part of…

This Background Paper presents information on the disabled population, as well as alternative definitions of disability and the resulting impact on population estimates of the disabled population. In addition, this paper presents a profile of non-elderly persons with disabilities, including work status and health insurance coverage, and concludes with a…